A Fire That Lights the Night
by Freakkofnaturee
Summary: After returning to the Air Temple, Korra has a nightmare, and has to deal with a certain someone.


**Hey guys, hope you enjoy this little story. I spent a lot of class time working on this, so hopefully it was worth it! **

**Disclaimer; I own nothing of Legend of Korra.**

* * *

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you. But Asami's dad being an equalist is not an easy thing to believe. Even now," Mako said as he stood by Korra. A lot had gone down within the last day, ending with all of them in one of the city's airships.

Korra shifted her gaze from the city below them to Mako. "I know. I'm sorry this whole thing happened."

"So…does your offer to live in the Air Temple still stand?"

"Of course it does. And Asami's welcome too." She smiled. After being a part of the cause of this mess, she was glad to be a part of the solution.

"Thank you so much."

Korra's smile fades and is replaced with a somewhat more serious expression. She places a hand on Mako's shoulder. "After everything she's been through, she's going to need you, Mako."

Mako nods, and without another word, be returns to Asami to comfort her.

Korra watches him walk away, watches as he wraps his arms around Asami and holds her close to him. A sign of care and protection.

She sighs and returns her gaze to the city. The lights sparkled below them, showing no signs of distress or any reasons to worry. But all around them, evil was hidden, lurking in the shadows. People who seemed like the most sincere of people were the ones with the biggest impact in this war. Like Hiroshi Sato, Asami's father. A man who had supported their team in the pro-bending tournament was actually plotting against all benders this whole time.

She takes one last look over at Asami and Mako before continually fixing her gaze on the same place she it before. Asami looked so sad, so defeated. She had every reason to be that way though. The man you look up to and who took care of you turning out to be someone completely different is hard to take in. It would be a very hard thing to deal with. At least she'd have people around her to help her through it. At least she had Mako.

* * *

Korra stared up at the ceiling of her room in the Air Temple. Her mind was ablaze with thoughts of the events of the past few days. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. She couldn't believe just how much things had changed since she arrived in Republic City. With the rise of Amon and his gain in followers and resources, things were becoming much worse in a short amount of time.

She sat up and walked over to her windowsill, resting down on it and leaning her head against the window. Through it she watched the vast body of water surrounding the island sway slightly in the night breeze. The night was cloudy, just like her thoughts.

_After everything she's been through, she's going to need you Mako. _She'd never forget these words, the exact ones she'd told Mako only a short number of nights ago. She knew the words were true, but it hurt her to say them. Mako showed little emotion when she had said it. All he gave her was a nod and left her for Asami, like always.

She shook her head. She couldn't be thinking like this. Mako liked Asami, not her. She was the Avatar, she couldn't let mindless things like boys get in her way of helping people. It was her duty to protect the people of Republic City and keep them safe.

Korra got up from her spot and returned to lying in her bed. With all these thoughts swirling through her head, sleep seemed inevitable, but it came after a long time of just laying completely still.

* * *

Korra rapidly turned her head in every direction in every way possible. All around her was darkness. She couldn't even see an inch in front of her face. It really surprised her when a burst of fire flew right by her face, a quick swirl of orange and yellow before disappearing back into the black.

Suddenly, Mako's voice appeared from an unknown location in the mysterious darkness. "Korra, the new Avatar." His voice echoed, as if they were in a cave, or an enclosed space with walls that reverberated each little sound. "So young, so naïve. You know nothing. Have you not realized the truth yet? I could never like someone like you. You think you have all this power and courage, but you don't. You have _nothing_." The last word was spat out at her, ringing on for an endless amount of time.

She started to run, but she didn't make it far. During her attempted escape, she was stopped by a sudden jolt of electricity running through every nerve in her body, originating from her back. The culprit released whatever they had been holding against her back and vanished as Korra sank to her knees, pain attacking her on the inside and the outside.

Without any warning, her face was jerked up by a hand. There was now a small amount of light coming from an unknown source. It wasn't much, only enough to illuminate the face in front of her. She was now face to face with Amon. He stared at her through the two lonely holes in his mask. She couldn't tell anything, how he was feeling or what he was thinking or planning to do. He brought her face closer to his, close enough that she would feel his breath if he were to take his mask off.

"Avatar Korra," he addressed her slowly. "Do you really think you stand any chance against me? No matter how many elements you can bend, you'll never possess the power that I have." He removed his hand and began to move it toward her face, just like he did before with Tahno and the other benders. He was preparing to take her bending away.

She tried to scream, but nothing came out. Without a voice, she couldn't get away or get help. She was now truly and utterly powerless. Just before he placed his fingers against her skin, she heard him chuckle. After that, he brought his other hand up and began to remove his mask. Korra's eyes widened as she came face to face with the real Amon, as he revealed his true self to her.

* * *

Korra's screams pierced the silence of the night, ringing loud and clear through her room, and surely through the rest of the Air Temple as well. She sat upright, leaving her tensed laying position.

_It was only a nightmare, it wasn't real, _she thought. But it seemed so real. Nothing seemed made up, every emotion and thought was still with her, clear as it was before. Each fear was being relived, one after another, over and over, constantly being replayed in her head.

Quickly, she got out of her bed and hurriedly made her way outside. The cool breeze hit her face instantly, taking away some of the sweat that had formed during her hellish slumber. She closed her eyes and stood there, taking slow, deep breaths.

"Korra?" she turned to see Mako coming towards her, a look of concern covered his face even though it seemed he had just woken up. "Are you alright?"

Without control or notice, she broke down into tears, her legs beginning to give way. Mako hurried over to her and caught her before she fell to the ground. He slowly knelt down, holding Korra close to his chest, comforting her. Korra's body shook as she sobbed, the mass of tears coming out at an uncontrollable pace. He rubbed her back and smoothed her hair, trying to calm her. It made him reminisce to the times when he would do this when he was younger and an upset Bolin came to him.

He held her there, close and tight, for some time. At some point, her sobs slowed and quieted. She began to bring herself away from Mako, but he only let her get so far. "Korra?"

She sniffled and rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Yea?"

"Do you want to talk about what happened?"

Korra nodded. Mako loosened his hold on her. She scrambled away from him, still shaky, and sat on the ground, her head hung low. "I h-had a nightmare, a r-really bad one. It seemed so, so real. There was Amon, a-and his chi-blockers." She looked up just enough to barely see Mako's face. "And you," she said quietly.

Mako never let his gaze leave Korra. "I was in it? What was I doing?"

Korra's eyes began to water, fresh tears ran down her face. "You were saying things, how I was worthless and you didn't care." She was on the verge of screaming, her emotions ranging from being upset to pure anger.

"You don't really believe that do you?" he asked calmly.

"Why shouldn't I? You've been distant from me the past few days, and you're staying at the Air Temple, the place I offered up to you. Even after I pushed you toward Asami, you didn't even notice the truth!"

"The truth? What do you mean? You told me Asami would need me, and-"

"I need you, Mako!" The statement bursted out of her so suddenly, they were both abruptly taken back. "You've been so busy taking care of Asami that you haven't even noticed how much I've needed you." She let her head fall, staring at the ground.

Silence filled the space around them. Neither said a word for quite a bit of time. Neither knew what the right thing to say was at a time like this. But somebody had to speak up eventually, and they both knew that.

Korra was the one to break the silence, her tears were now momentarily gone, a look of passion and anger now settled on her face. "Do you not see how much you mean to me? How much I need you?"

Mako sighed. "I guess I didn't think it was this bad. I won't say I didn't notice some problems going on with you, with us, but I figured you were doing fine since you didn't say anything."

"When would I have said something? You're always with Asami, and the few time we were alone, you were yelling at me for stupid things."

"Was this your first nightmare?"

"No, I've been having them ever since I went to face Amon. This one was the worst though, probably because I've never felt more alone and scared than I do right now."

Mako moved his hand to cover Korra's, who was resting hers on her leg. He wrapped his hand around hers and moved slightly closer to her. "Korra, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've been distant and that you've had to deal with all of this all alone. I may be with Asami, but that doesn't mean I should ignore my friend, no matter what things have gone down between us."

Korra attacked Mako in a spontaneous hug, holding onto him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her, giving her the comfort he had been neglecting to give. He knew better than anyone that all anybody needed when they were sad or afraid was a little comfort and love. "I'll always be here for you Korra, no matter how bad times get, no matter how distant I seem to be. I'll always be here. Always."


End file.
